The Washington Nationals beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 July 6, their third straight win against the Cubs.
Roger Bernadina led off the game with an infield hit to short. Second Baseman Danny Espinosa hit his 16th home run of the season as the Nats’ second batter of the game, putting Washington up by two.
But the Cubs got those runs right back as first baseman Carlos Pena hit a two-run shot of his own in the top of the second, his 18th homer of the 2011 campaign.
The third two-run homer of the night was hit by Ryan Zimmerman in the bottom of the fifth to give the Nationals a 4-2 lead.
Zimmerman had a huge night offensively, going 3-4 with a walk and two RBIs.
“He’s been swing the bat good,” Nats’ Manager Davey Johnson said. “The whole ballclub looked sharper today.”
The lead would be short-lived however, as Chicago tied things up in the top of the sixth via — get this — a two-run home run, this time off the bat of third baseman Aramis Ramirez.
The Nats finally scored a run on something other than a home run in the bottom of the seventh as catcher Wilson Ramos laid down a bunt on a suicide squeeze with Michael Morse breaking from third to give Washington a 5-4 lead. Once again, the Nationals bullpen did its job, allowing zero runs over three innings.
According to Johnson, this was the first time in his managerial career that he called for a suicide squeeze. He is far from a small ball manager. Bunting in Johnson’s mind is a wasted out. But with the way the offense has produced recently, he has had to be creative to try and score runs. The Nationals’ skipper described his recent creativity like only he can, saying, “You’ve got to open the Cracker Jack box.”
The Nationals look for the four-game sweep tomorrow, when they’ll send Livan Hernandez to the mound to face Cubs’ starter Matt Garza.
